Giants trounce Kendrick, Phillies

Associated Press
San Francisco’s Roger Kieschnick singles in Buster Posey in the third inning against the Phillies on Wednesday.
hits a single that scored Buster Posey from third base during the third inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Wednesday, July 31, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

PHILADELPHIA — Not good enough to buy, not bad enough to sell, and not lean enough in their contractual obligations to lure buyers, the Phillies did nothing Wednesday. The trade deadline came and went, and the Phillies did absolutely nothing.

Three hours later, their lineup followed suit.

Kyle Kendrick got lit up in his two-plus innings of work, and the Phillies’ starting nine did little to smooth over their pitcher’s miscues, letting San Francisco walk all over them in a 9-2 trouncing.

How bad was it for the Phillies?

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The Giants, whose offense might be nearly as anemic as the Phils’, had gone 90 consecutive innings without a home run before a quick introduction to reliever J.C. Ramirez’s right arm. Even Giants starting pitcher Chad Gaudin, who had gone 40 straight at-bats without a hit, got in on the slugging spree with a third-inning single.

All told, San Fran muscled 14 hits to the Phillies’ five.

“It was a frustrating night, you know?” Kendrick said.

It was ugly, and it was everything anyone who’s watched the Phillies since the All-Star break has come to expect from them. The loss made for nine in 10 games for the Phillies, whose recent descent is at a season-worst.

Maybe you can give Kendrick a pass, seeing as 27 hours before taking the hill at Citizens Bank Park, he and his wife Stephanie had become parents of a son, Kyle Jr., their second child. Maybe the pitcher’s head was in an other-worldy place and he was distracted.

Maybe.

“I’m not going to make an excuse. Wouldn’t change that for the world. It was awesome,” Kendrick said of his son’s birth. “Just have to make better pitches. That’s what it comes down to.”

But if that’s the case, what viable excuse did the Phillies’ lineup have? After Chase Utley’s first-inning home run, his 14th of the season, the Phillies had three baserunners in their next five trips to the plate. Booers and Eagles spelling-bee participants outnumbered everyone else in the building. The Phillies followed up an offensive onslaught in Tuesday’s series opener with a dud of a showing against Gaudin, who has won five of six decisions since moving into the Giants’ rotation in early June.

For as minute a chance as the lineup gave the Phillies to win, Kendrick’s showing almost matched it.

Those who ventured to the ballyard hadn’t even loaded up their hot dogs with condiments before Kendrick had given up a hit, then a run, then three more. Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey strung together successive one-out hits to bring in a pair. An out later, Brett Pill singled in two more.

“I’ve been in tough ruts before,” Kendrick said. “Just got to keep making your pitches. Today was no command, the ball was up and when you’re like that, most pitchers will get hurt like that.”

If not for remarkable glovework from Cody Asche, in his first career start, the Giants would have inflicted far more damage on Kendrick’s ERA than four first-inning runs. Asche dove to his right and into foul territory behind third base, scrambled to his feet and threw out Hunter Pence on a mashed grounder for the second out of the inning.

“He made one heck of a play,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He didn’t hit the ball hard, but at the same time, he will.”

“It’s fun to make plays like that,” Asche said. “It’s fun when the crowd gets behind you like that, too.”

Even with Utley’s homer and Asche’s glove, Kendrick ran into trouble. He never got out of the third. He never got an out in the third, either.

The cascade of relievers called upon by Manuel stemmed the bleeding somewhat, inducing three consecutive innings of zeroes, before Ramirez issued seventh-inning homers to Brett Pill and Brandon Crawford – San Francisco’s six- and eight-hole hitters, respectively.

Granted, Pill entered the series with four hits in 15 games. He has six in two against the Phillies. But neither he nor Crawford is an on-the-rise sluggers for the Giants, who are one of the most-scoring-challenged clubs in the NL.

Lucky for them, the Phillies are one of the few clubs who meet them on that level.